TH E Y A S A WA IS LA ND S O F F IJ I

FIJI NEWSLETTER
The country Fiji in the South Pacific is made up of 332 islands. Fiji is in the Southern Hemisphere, about 7 hours, by plane, away from Hawaii. It is nearby to Samoa, and slightly farther away from Australia and New Zealand. The Yasawa Islands are a group of 20 islands within Fiji; they stretch in a straight line for 90 kilometers or 72 miles. The Southern most islands are 40 kilometers or 32 miles away from Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. Taweva, the island we were on is one of the farthest out in the Yasawas. It is very isolated and very far from any large towns. Although there are villages, there are no stores and no cars. The people that live in the villages get their food from small general stores that are most often at resorts. Another way that they get food is someone from the village takes a boat to the mainland and gets food for everyone in the village. They do this every week. Because of the Yasawas isolation they have very limited health care or any medical supplies. The people live a very simple life with very few modern conveniences. Most everyone stays in the same village their whole life. They live on what they call Fiji Time. Time goes by so slowly because they are not rushing around going places. They are very relaxed and never worried. The Yasawas are so different than anything Ive ever seen , it amazes me that you have to go half way around the world to get to a place where everyone is really, truly carefree. Yasawas

Q&A WITH A F IJ IA N
SUBJECT: FANNY AGE: 74 OCCUPATION: RUNS A SMALL RESORT CALLED OTTO & FANNYS ON THE ISLAND TAWEVA IN THE YASAWA ISLANDS OF FIJI Q: HOW LONG HAVE YOU LIVED HERE IN FIJI? A: 27 YEARS Q: WHERE ELSE HAVE YOU LIVED? A: I LIVED IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS FOR 26 YEARS Q: HOW ARE THE SOLOMON ISLANDS DIFFERENT THAN FIJI? A: NO DIFFERENT, THE FIJIAN PEOPLE AND THE PEOPLE OF THE SOLOMON ISLANDS ARE BOTH MALAYSIAN Q: WHAT MADE YOU COME BACK TO FIJI? A: AFTER I RETIRED FROM BEING A CATERER IN THE SOLOMON ISANDS MY HUSBAND OTTO AND I DECIDED TO COME BACK HOME TO FIJI, THIS IS WHERE WE BOTH ARE FROM Q: HOW LONG HAS HAS THE RESORT, OTTO & FANNYS BEEN HERE? A: WE BUILT IT IN 1993, I HAD NO EXPERIENCE RUNNING A HOTEL Q: WHO ARE SOME OF THE MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE THAT HAVE COME TO STAY AT OTTO & FANNYS? A: A KITE SURFING CHAMPION FROM AUSTRALIA, A SWIM TEAM WOULD SWIM TO OTHER ISLANDS TO HAVE LUNCH, AND OF COURSE YOU, FOR YOU GOT THE HELICOPTER AND ALL. I ALSO COOKED FOR THE POPE IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS; IT WAS THE CLOSEST HE EVER GOT TO THE SOUTH PACIFIC Q: SO MANY POEPLE COME TO VISIT FIJI, WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE REASON EVERYBODY LOVES THIS PLACE SO MUCH? A: BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE. THEY ARE SO WARM AND FRIENDLY AND WELCOMING. YOU CAN FIND THAT ALMOST NO WHERE ELSE ON EARTH, AND OF COURSE THE BEAUTIFUL WARM WEATHER Q: WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF LIVING ON THE ISLAND? A: FISHING, I WOULD GO EVERY DAY IF THEY WOULD TAKE ME Q: HAVE THERE BEEN ANY MAJOR CHANGES ON THE ISLAND THAT HAVE EFFECTED YOUR LIFE? A: NO, NOTHING When we rst got to Fiji I was a little afraid that a coconut was going to fall on me because they littered the ground. We would walk in between the coconut trees just to be safe. When we asked Fanny if she had ever heard of anyone getting hit by a coconut she said in all her 74 years she never had. She also said: My father used to tell me that coconuts have eyes and they know where theyre falling. We still worried about the coconuts.  I am very glad I interviewed Fanny because I got a great story out of it. She is a very interesting person that anyone could learn a lot from. She was a great hostess, an amazing chef and is a friend to everyone. Like all the other Fijian people she was so happy to welcome us on to the island she calls home and share the beauties of the amazing place with us.

F I J I A N P EO P L E A N D TH EI R C U L TU RE

 The
Fijian
People
have
very
strong
culture
and
 traditions.
Dancing
and
singing
is
a
big
part
of
their
 everyday
life.
Their
traditional
dance
is
called
Meke.
It
 involves
what
they
call
the
fan
dance
where
they
dance
 with
a
woven
fan.
Also,
the
men
do
a
dance
with
 traditional
Fijian
war
clubs.
A
Lovo
is
a
festival
where
they
 cook
a
special
meal
by
placing
down
burning
hot
stones
 and
then
banana
leaves,
after
that
they
put
down
the
 food
that
is
wrapped
in
hand
woven
baskets.
They
cover
 the
food
in
more
banana
leaves
and
bury
the
oven
to
trap
 in
the
heat.
The
food
cooks
in
2-3
hours.
After
the
Lovo
 dinner
there
is
typically
a
Meke
performance.
The
Fijians
 perform
the
Meke
as
entertainment
but
it
is
also
 performed
so
the
Fijians
may
remember
who
they
are
as
 Fijians
and
so
others
will
respect
their
precious
culture
and
 what
traditions
are
important
to
them.
Their
dance
is
calm
 and
smooth.
Their
song
is
beautiful
and
joyful.
 The
Fijian
language
is
very
unique.
In
other
 languages
like
French
it
is
not
as
hard
to
understand
 because
some
words
are
similar
sounding.
Fijian
is
so
 different
you
cannot
understand
a
word
they
are
saying.
 They
are
taught
English
in
school,
but
at
home
and
with
 each
other
they
mostly
speak
Fijian. Bula:
Hello Vinaka:
Thank
you,
Vinaka
Vokalavu:
Thank
you
very
 much Yes:
Oi No:
Sega
(pronounced
Senga) Sing:
Sere Laugh:
Dredre
(pronounced
Ndrendre) Ocean:
Wai
tui
 In
their
culture
it
is
important
that
women
dress
in
 skirts
or
dresses
that
cover
their
knees
and
shirts
that
cover
 their
shoulders.
Also
the
head
is
sacred,
it
is
very
 disrespectful
to
wear
hats
or
sunglasses
when
entering
a
 village
or
to
touch
others
heads.
It
is
also
more
respectful
 to
carry
a
bag
or
purse
in
your
hands
rather
than
on
you
 shoulders.
 Family
culture
and
tradition
is
very
important
to
 the
Fijians.
It
is
something
they
hold
on
to
and
celebrate
 often.
They
express
this
with
dance
and
song.
It
seems
 that
everything
that
they
do
is
based
around
a
simple
and
 beautifully
peaceful
way
of
life.

Meke Dance at a Lovo. At Botaira Beach Resort. Botaira was an amazing spot and they had many different things to do. I learned a lot about the Fijian People while I was there.
Follow this link to a video of this Meke Performance: dgndsbcjAMZJNSyckXSJMZaFDLX

TH E REEF S O F F IJ I
Fiji is home to 35% of the coral reefs of the southwest pacic. The reefs of Fiji are vibrant with 340 species of colorful coral and swarming with 1200 species of sh. The reefs are fragile and can be damaged badly; overshing and direct human disturbance are among the causes of reef destruction. Another major cause of reef destruction is: Ocean temperatures rising causing coral bleaching. This is when the Zooxanthellae or algae living inside the coral leaves because it is too hot for the Zooxanthellae to live there. The Zooxanthellae is what gives the coral its wonderful color so when the Zooxanthellae leaves all that is left is the white skeleton of the coral. Coral that has been left this way too long will die although most coral can last 2 weeks without the Zooxanthellae. The Zooxanthellae uses the vibrant colors to reect the light and make food for themselves. Follow this link to an underwater video of the reef: hmjdfKV>ADmqaekxd ,ZM IKY There are other places in the world where mass coral bleaching is happening and the reefs structure is breaking down. I think it is very important for all of us to take care of nature that surrounds us. For the people of Fiji and the many people that visit Fiji; that means taking care of the reefs. Fijis reefs are very healthy and are taken care of. Fiji can set an example to other places that need to take better care of their reefs. The Coral reefs are a huge part in the ecosystem here and in many other places. They are the full providers of 1,000s of sea creatures. Reef Observations Most coral has a hard rough surface that would cut you easily because of the texture Some species of sh are commonly seen others are scarce, I wonder if these sh are in danger or if they are simply not common in this particular area A majority of the sh are feeding on the coral Many sh are camouage in the sand or the coral and are invisible to predators

IS LA ND LIFE
The School and the Children
The children of the village attend school everyday. The school is made up of a handful of buildings and is Kindergarten through 8th grade. The school has 69 kids and has combined classes other than the Kindergarten class; Grades 1-2, Grades 3-4, Grades 5-6 and Grades 7-8. They have very limited resourses; no computers, books that are welled used and most children stay in the village their whole life. Still, children are children and just like me and my friends would be they were running around outside at recess and many were playing rugby. They were all very friendly and saying Bula! to us which is a Fijian greeting. I enjoyed going to see how they live their life, it made really think about how different some things are in a country like Fiji. It may be The way these people live is so different than the life we know. Everything they know is so simple. They live in one room houses. They stay in their home village. Many a Fijians never leave where they are from. As I was walking through the village, I noticed that everything looks old and welled used, new clothes or shoes are unheard of. They slept on mats on the floor with up to 10 children in a home. They lacked so many things that we took for granted. Many home did not even have an indoor toilet, some still cooked over an open fire. they did not have electricity on any the outer islands, although the resorts had generators and suspect some villages may as well. It seemed to me as though their life but be quite hard, living in these conditions. but I realized that this was the only life they knew. They could not imagine anything different. With no cars or roads everyone lives within walking distance of each other. When one teacher was away on the main island different in so many ways but these people are really just the same as we are. This experience made me realize that the differences arent important. and another sprained his ankle and couldnt make to school they had a sort of dilemma for there was no substitute teachers and the headmaster could not fill in for 2 teachers. There creative solution was to have the teacher with the sprained ankles class walk to his house. The world they live in is small and familiar. Everything they have ever known is right around them.